It’s an absurd idea, isn’t it? Imagine people munching on willow bark or even experimenting with different ways to ingest it or extract parts for a stronger product. After all, the pharmaceutical companies have done a great job of productizing the useful chemicals from the bark and creating pills in varying strengths. The FDA has even approved aspirin and lists the possible side effects of using this drug. There’s no need to chop down willow trees or strip their bark; half a dozen companies do it all for us.
Okay, let’s try to get past the emotional side of the marijuana argument and look at this in a calm, collected, logical manner.
In California, it is legal – with a qualified card – to buy, possess, and use marijuana for medical purposes. In several other states, it is even legal to use pot for recreational purposes. No card necessary.
This November we will be presented with Prop 64, an initiative to legalize recreational marijuana use in California. There were petitions for no fewer than sixteen individual marijuana propositions circulating, but as of now, the only one assured to be on the ballot is Prop 64. I have two questions regarding legalization of this drug:
First, is it necessary? To get a pot card in this state, you only need a valid ID, pay the fee, and present a doctor’s “recommendation.” One might think that the doctor’s recommendation (not an actual prescription) might be the regulating part that would ensure the use of this drug for legitimate medicinal purposes. It’s not. It’s all too easy to find a quack ready to fill out a recommendation for the drug for anything from hangnails to hair loss. You only need to pay the doctor’s fee. So much for “medicinal” use.
Second, is it wise? Think about that willow bark scenario and ask yourself why pharmaceutical companies have not extracted or synthesized the useful parts of cannabis and productized it? Well, the fact is, they have.
There are some 483 chemical compounds in cannabis. The part that gets you high – and the part the potheads crave – is THC. CBN acts with THC to increase the strength of the psychoactive effect. Separate those out and you have 481 other potentially useful compounds that won’t get you high, impair driving, cause munchies, or wreck your brain.
Some pharmaceutical companies are marketing cannabis compounds for specific uses, such as glaucoma in children. Of course, the THC is thankfully removed for those medicines targeted at children. In fact, there are currently 10 known pharmaceuticals made from cannabis compounds, some with THC, and some without. To date, only three of these have met approval by the FDA. To my knowledge, none of these are approved for over the counter sale.
Why is this significant? The FDA was created in response to the rampant use and sale of ineffective and often deadly drugs (aka, snake oil). Drugs gaining FDA approval have been tested for treatment of specific ailments, the side effects are known and published, and recommended dosage is listed.
In other words, you don’t have to go nibbling on a willow tree to relieve a headache. The FDA has approved aspirin and recommended dosage while listing the nasty side effects of the drug. Just go down to the drugstore and buy a bottle of pills with the recommended dosage already on the bottle.
Why can’t the same be done with cannabis? Smoking the weed is far more hazardous – as much as ten times more dangerous – than smoking cigarettes. Stuffing the weed into brownies or any other baked goods puts all 483 compounds, some not so healthy – into that little morsel.
The worst part of taking your “medicine” raw is where and how it is sold. You can’t go down to a pharmacy, along with people buying toothpaste and foot powder, present a prescription and get little bottles of measured, tested, and labeled pot complete with recommended use and side effects listed. You go to a “dispensary” to have another pothead dole out whatever you want. Pay your money, good-bye, and good luck. Happy smoking!
As you can see, there is a huge difference between legitimate pharmaceuticals and some weed being shelled out at a hole-in-the-wall dispensary. And for clarification, licensed pharmacies dispense legitimate drugs for an intended purpose for use under a doctor’s care, while pot dispensaries sell snake-oil at any strength and amount you can afford.
